Gladu's social conservatism shrugged off at Liberal convention. High-spirited Liberals gathering at their national convention in downtown Montreal don't seem bothered by how they cobble together a majority government, as long as they find stability. Some 4,500 party members have gathered to talk policy and build momentum ahead of Monday's three byelections that are all but guaranteed to get the...
Progressive Liberal MPs at the party's national convention in Montreal are extending an olive branch to former Conservatives who have crossed the floor. Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault said while he was "surprised" that MP Marilyn Gladu left the Conservatives to join his party, he's confident she stands with the party's values.
This has to be the worst of times for Donald Trump -- nothing is going right, and the US President looks increasingly unhinged on a daily basis. Even some of his base are abandoning him. With Chantal away, former Washington correspondent Keith Boag joins Bruce for some serious Trump talk. Plus, another Conservative crosses the floor, making a Liberal majority...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada's next governor general will speak both French and English. In an interview with Radio-Canada, Carney answered "absolutely" when asked by radio host Patrick Masbourian whether he would commit to naming a candidate who speaks both of the country's official languages. Gov. Gen. Mary Simon speaks English and Inuktitut but has failed to become fluent...
Danielle Martin was going door to door meeting voters when a woman, newly released from the hospital, really wanted to show off her stitches. “I said, ‘I’m really sorry, but I don’t feel like that would be appropriate,’” Martin, a high-profile family doctor-turned-Liberal candidate, recalled with a laugh. “I’m not sure my insurance covers that.”
Formed in 1949, in the wake of a world war which cost tens of millions of lives, 12 countries signed the NATO charter in Washington, D.C. The aims were to deter Soviet expansionism, to prevent the rise of nationalistic militarism in Europe, and to promote European integration. A lot has changed, in Trump’s America.
Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1099 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between March 31 to April 4, 2026 as part of an omnibus survey. The sample included both land- and cell-lines across Canada. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest...
Politicians who worry that the newest Conservative convert to Mark Carney’s Liberals will hold right-wing policy views that are incompatible with the government’s social policy positions have not yet recognized what’s going on. They rightly perceive that Sarnia Member of Parliament Marilyn Gladu has held views on abortion, same-sex marriage, vaccination mandates and other policies that are counter to what...
Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government is on the verge of securing a majority government ahead of three byelections next week. Here's what a majority government would mean for him and for Canada. What is a majority government? A majority government is formed when a political party has more than half of the seats in the House of Commons. Currently...
The Bank of Canada and the country’s major banks and financial firms met Friday to discuss cybersecurity risks raised by Anthropic PBC’s latest artificial intelligence model.
There has been a lot of debate in recent weeks about the province’s decision to take over the City of Toronto’s role in the agreement governing Billy Bishop Airport and to acquire the city-owned lands at the airport. Some have asked why the province would take such a step. The answer is that Billy Bishop is a critical piece of...
I have an urgent request for Prime Minister Mark Carney: please come to Vaughan, Ont., to meet with our Jewish community. As Vaughan’s mayor, I want you to know that Jews here feel angry, scared, defiant, tired, shocked and beleaguered. Who can blame them? I’ve lived my entire life in this country, but I have never before witnessed the shocking...
It’s like déjà vu all over again. Yet another Conservative MP, uncomfortable with the direction of the party or doubtful about its electoral prospects, has decamped to the Liberals. The fourth floor crossing from the CPC in six months — with more MPs reportedly considering the move.
It seems there’s a cross-party freakout over the fact that Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu has crossed the floor of the Commons to join the Carney caucus. Conservatives are outraged that Gladu would turn her back on the party under whose banner she was elected no fewer than four times.
With a speed that lightning metaphors would insult, your National Post’s comment section has already published a couple of items about Wednesday’s shock defection to the Liberals of Sarnia MP Marilyn Gladu, who had been re-elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative less than a year ago. These pieces establish that Gladu was one of the most radical...
A podcast can show you a side of someone but a floor-crossing tells you something deeper about the mood inside a caucus. When Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre sat down with Joe Rogan for a long, wide-ranging interview, even critics had to admit he came across differently. The usual edge wasn’t there. No constant jabs at Prime Minister Mark Carney, even...
After 12 months, five floor crossings and one Liberal convention this weekend in Montreal, Mark Carney is going to get his majority government. If the Liberals win the three byelections scheduled for next week, and they should, they’ll have 174 seats, enough to pass legislation without relying on the Speaker of the House of Commons or support from another party...
By now, interested readers will be able to find all sorts of reminders that, before she crossed the figurative floor to the Liberals on Wednesday, Marilyn Gladu had a reputation in Ottawa as an eccentric at best, and a loose cannon at worst. Her Wikipedia entry features expressions like “hydroxychloroquine” and “conversion therapy.” Scanning reactions to the Sarnia MP’s defection...
My jaw is on the floor. Marilyn Gladu just crossed the aisle to the Liberals, and I am struggling to find the structural logic in a move this cold. As a veteran strategist and former National Campaign Manager, I’ve been involved with backroom politics for so long it’s fair to say the majority of my adult life has been lived...
With one warm floor-crossing welcome, Prime Minister Mark Carney challenged Wednesday what it means to be a Liberal, gave his primary opponent a big wake-up call, and planted the seeds for simmering caucus discontent. A day before Liberals gather in Montreal for their biennial convention — Carney’s first as leader — the prime minister embraced four-term Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong Conservative MP Marilyn...
Sarnia Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu backed the trucker blockade in Ottawa, along with a bill that would force floor-crossers to quit and run again. On Wednesday, however, she crossed the floor to become a newly-minted Liberal for Prime Minister Mark Carney — the fifth of her kind. There’s no quit in this politician. A less obvious Liberal than Gladu you...
During his brief and ill-fated time as leader of the Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff invited Canadians to join him inside the "big red tent." This appeal obviously did not work out for Ignatieff. But perhaps he was merely ahead of his time. Fifteen years after Ignatieff's time as Liberal leader came to a sudden end, Mark Carney is exploring just...
The news that Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu is crossing the floor to join the Liberal caucus, effectively guaranteeing Prime Minister Mark Carney a parliamentary majority, has not been hailed universally by her constituents. “She thinks she knows better than her voters?” said one resident of Sarnia–Lambton–Bkejwanong on social media. “What is the flipping point? You wonder why people get radicalized...
Of all the floor-crossers who’ve inched Prime Minister Mark Carney closer to a majority in the past six months, Marilyn Gladu won the award Wednesday for generating the most spit-takes. Just in time to attend the Liberal Party National Convention in Montreal this weekend, Gladu — a very Conservative member of Parliament since 2015 — announced that she had defected...
It was during the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio on hardcore pornographers that Justice Potter Stewart famously offered as a threshold test for obscenity: “I know it when I see it.”
“The whole point of being an MP is to represent your constituents,” a Conservative MP told a local Ontario newspaper back in January, when she backed a call for automatic by-elections following an MP’s defection. “So if they’re voting you in under one platform,” she continued, “for you to switch for whatever reasons, just seems to me to not be...
Down the street from the House of Commons, a parliamentary crisis unfolds. This drama doesn’t involve misconduct; the fate of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government doesn’t hang in the balance. Most visibly, it’s a clash between senators who believe their duty is to act — to fully study government legislation and recommend changes — and others who believe they shouldn’t...
Almost since its inception, the Senate of Canada has been the subject of proposals for reform. Now there are the first faint stirrings of a new movement: Senate unreform. Ten years after Justin Trudeau introduced his “merit-based, non-partisan” process for appointing senators there are whispers that the whole thing might be about to be called off. The Globe and Mail...
Jamieson Greer stands like Mount Olympus above the intellectual molehills of his cabinet-level colleagues, to such an extent that one worries for his welfare in the Trump administration. The U.S. Trade Representative spoke at the Hudson Institute think tank on Tuesday, and such was his coherence it was almost possible to set aside that his boss had just threatened to...
One voter expectation trumps all others today: trust. You can be charismatic, intelligent, a good orator and attractive, but if voters don’t feel confident that you are worthy of their trust, go home.
As the world absorbed this morning the good news that Persian civilization has not been obliterated per an apparent nuclear threat issued by an American president to end an avoidable war he started, the question remains of “What just happened?”. In superficial terms, what just happened was an unjustified war in the Middle East launched by an American president acting...
The dam has burst. Rigid messaging is ending. Long live the give-and-take of conversation. SUDDENLY, OUR POLITICS is all about the written and spoken word. Not so long ago, we had a prime minister who did his best to hide for weeks and an opposition leader who refused to take reporters with him on a national campaign. Now, the newish...
Last summer, Canada’s Supreme Court sent an inadvertent message to all young offenders in Canada: you will almost certainly never be sentenced as an adult. Even before the Court released its judgement in R v. I.M., which changed the standard for which youth can be sentenced as adults, it was already true that young offenders would be treated more leniently...
There are always moments in politics when the conditions align for a breakthrough. When public frustration, economic uncertainty and political realignment create an opening for a party to redefine itself and capture the national mood. Since Prime Minister Mark Carney took over the helm of the federal Liberal Party more than a year ago, we’ve witnessed a sweeping transformation of...
The most basic problem now confronting Donald Trump isn’t a matter of complex geopolitics. It’s more a simple matter of talent. The U.S. president, as much as many people hate to admit it, does have some real talents. He’s a natural showman. He’s a talented negotiator. And, as commander in chief of the world’s greatest military, he has a lot...
Former interim NDP leader Don Davies will continue to act as the party's parliamentary leader in the House of Commons while new leader Avi Lewis remains outside of Parliament. The House of Commons resumes sitting Monday for the first time since Lewis won the NDP leadership on March 29 and he announced the new critic roles for his caucus in...
Swedish firm pitches centre as means to keep mission-critical data out of U.S. hands. As part of its pitch to lure Canada to buy Gripen-E fighter jets, Saab has offered to establish a secure, sovereign data centre in Montreal to house critical, top-secret mission data and intelligence, CBC News has learned. The company is framing it as a "unique advantage"...
Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the Montreal Canadiens dressing room after the team's 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in a thrilling game Thursday night. Carney was in Montreal for a Liberal party convention running through Saturday, attending the game following a day of media appearances and speeches across the city. He met with Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, forwards...
Marilyn Gladu crossed the floor from the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals because it was the "best thing" for her riding, the country and herself, the Sarnia MP said Thursday night in Montreal. Gladu stole the opening show at the Liberal national convention after she stunned political circles across the country by unexpectedly crossing the floor from the Tories...
Formed in 1949, in the wake of a world war which cost tens of millions of lives, 12 countries signed the NATO charter in Washington, D.C. The aims were to deter Soviet expansionism, to prevent the rise of nationalistic militarism in Europe, and to promote European integration. A lot has changed, in Trump’s America.
Liberals are meeting in high spirits on the second day of their national party convention in Montreal -- just days before the party is expected to clinch a majority government. On Monday, a series of byelections are expected to grant the Liberals a majority mandate without having to call a general election, even if they don't win them all. Prime...
Liberal MPs gathering among 4,000-plus party faithful in Montreal say they are “energized” after the latest floor crossing to their “big tent” puts them in majority territory—and a far cry from the pre-2025 election days when Liberals were “headed to nowhere.” Greeted by a clamouring, cheering group of volunteers and conventiongoers in the upper level of the Palais de congrès...
OTTAWA -- An internal Canadian Security Intelligence Service memo says allowing the spy agency to collect foreign intelligence overseas would capitalize on its "existing footprint and expertise," but might also invite a host of problems.
XEmailRedditLinkedIn Canada's Immigration Department is sending tens of thousands of refugee claimants letters that they may not be eligible for asylum — and is telling some of them that they should leave immediately. The move comes after Ottawa passed a law last month that tightened how and when claimants can apply. "These are not deportation letters," Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship...
Canada is condemning Israel for striking Lebanon hours after an apparent ceasefire was struck in the Middle East conflict and is calling on Hezbollah to disarm in favour of diplomatic solutions. Despite an 11th-hour ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Israel attacked Beirut on Wednesday in a renewed effort to strike at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group...
In a scene carefully orchestrated for TV cameras, Prime Minister Mark Carney and an entourage of cabinet ministers walked recent Liberal convert Marilyn Gladu through throngs of party members lined up for selfies and handshakes Thursday in Montreal. Little more than a year ago, in the waning days of Justin Trudeau's leadership, Liberals were gloomily contemplating almost certain electoral defeat...
Less than an hour outside downtown Montreal, election signs with the faces of Bloc and Liberal candidates running in Terrebonne are displayed everywhere, including on lawns, storefronts and even lamp posts. The Liberals are throwing everything they can behind the traditional Bloc riding they won by a single vote in the 2025 federal election. That decision was ultimately overturned by...
Pierre Poilievre was defiant on Thursday in the face of questions about his leadership of the Conservative party after a fourth member of his caucus defected to the Liberals this week. He reminded reporters that a "record-smashing 8.3 million Canadians" voted Conservative last year. "Our mandate, and my leadership, does not come from dirty backroom deals. It comes from the...
After losing another of his MPs to the Liberals, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he personally supports recall petitions — a way for constituents to remove a representative if they garner enough local support. "When a member of Parliament goes back on the word they made to their constituents and switches parties, constituents should be able to petition to throw...
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday he understands U.S. President Donald Trump’s “disappointment” in the alliance for not immediately helping him with his war with Iran, but also backed Trump’s decision to not inform allies ahead of time. Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington a day after meeting with Trump privately to discuss the president’s criticisms, Rutte expressed...
Canada is talking to Britain, Japan and Italy about obtaining observer status in their joint program to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft. Ottawa is sending letters to all three countries formally requesting this, a senior Canadian government official said. The Globe is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Prime minister has said deal must include end of hostilities in Lebanon. Ottawa is pushing for Lebanon to be part of the ceasefire deal between the Trump administration and Iran and for its inclusion to be honoured by Israel, a senior Liberal source told CBC News. Canada is one of "many countries trying to push for Lebanon," said the source...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke to longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu before she crossed the floor to join the Liberals about her previous positions on social issues, and he’s been reassured that she “will vote with the government.” “To be clear, the Liberal Party always will support the rights of women to choose, always without question. And I...
A former top aide to Stephen Harper says Marilyn Gladu's decision to leave the Conservative party for the Liberals is raising questions about Pierre Poilievre's leadership. "I think this floor crosser, more than the previous ones, weakens his leadership," said Dimitri Soudas, who was former prime minister Stephen Harper's director of communications. "Not just because of the fact that it's...
Liberal MP Chris d’Entremont, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives in November, says current Conservative MPs have “absolutely” asked him what it’s like being a Liberal. “They want to know what the caucus structure is, what we talk about, what kind of input that we have in decision making,” d’Entremont told host Mike Le Couteur in an interview on...
Canadians rank cutting fuel taxes as the No. 1 action Prime Minister Mark Carney should take to offset higher gasoline prices. Nearly 39% of respondents listed a reduction in fuel-related taxes as their preferred course of action from the federal government, according to a Nanos Research Group survey for Bloomberg News. Increasing “investment in long-term energy alternatives” was the second...
The Alberta government reiterated Wednesday that it will not be removing its provincial gas tax before Canada Day at the soonest, as federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the federal government to suspend its own levies drivers pay at the pump. Poilievre made the appeal via an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney published Tuesday afternoon on social...
Liberals are gathering in Montreal for the next few days, buzzing on a fifth floor-crossing and with a sought-after majority government in sight. While the official agenda is dotted with panels, speakers, policy discussions and campaign training, the three byelections set for Monday are expected to dominate conversations at the three-day event. The party is hoping those races will not...
Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu left the Conservative caucus to join Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals on Wednesday, pushing the government closer to a majority ahead of three byelections next week. Carney welcomed her to the caucus in a meeting at his office Wednesday afternoon. "I couldn't be happier," he said alongside a smiling Gladu. He said Gladu was "one of...
Ontario Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu’s floor crossing gives the Liberals a virtual lock on a majority, and one that would allow them to do far more than simply survive confidence votes — because not all majorities are created equal. Two of the three April 13 contests — in the Toronto ridings of University–Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest — are widely considered...
Liberal party members are gathering in Montreal and, for the first time in more than a decade, Justin Trudeau and his personal brand of politics won't tower over the party's proceedings. Party faithful will gather as Mark Carney's ever-expanding big tent of MPs stands on the cusp of achieving a majority government following a series of floor-crossings in Parliament. The...
Prime Minister Mark Carney praised astronaut Jeremy Hansen during a call with the Artemis II crew on Wednesday, saying he was proud to see a Canadian in space and to hear French spoken. Carney called the mission "hugely inspiring" and said Canadians couldn't be more proud of Hansen and the collaboration with the United States. "We look forward to seeing...
Pollara chief strategy officer Dan Arnold says the numbers are likely a reflection that separation talk is becoming more mainstream
Thousands of Liberals are arriving in Montreal for their annual convention with a spring in their step following news of a fifth-floor crosser in just over five months. The 2026 Montreal convention was advertised as an opportunity to chart the party’s course. Liberal strategists expect the three-day convention will focus less on policy and more on building momentum ahead of...
The policy debate at the Grits' upcoming convention seems intentionally designed to avoid being a distraction from the party’s core messaging as it sits on the cusp of a majority, but it's also not time for a victory lap, say observers. As Liberals from across Canada descend on Montreal this week, observers expect the party’s national convention to be light...
NEW YORK (AP) -- After chants of "run again!" filled the room, former Vice President Kamala Harris told African American activists on Friday that she's actively considering another presidential bid.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's search for an off-ramp from the war with Iran is getting bumpy inside his Republican Party.
Donald Trump is accustomed to criticism from coast to coast -- Democrats, disaffected Republicans, late-night comedians, massive protests. Yet in his second presidency, Trump's most influential American critic doesn't live in the country but at the Vatican.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- As students banged on desks and stomped their feet inside a packed lecture hall at the University of Michigan, someone decades older stood in the back, quietly taking in the scene.
Canada is condemning Israel for striking Lebanon hours after an apparent ceasefire was struck in the Middle East conflict and is calling on Hezbollah to disarm in favour of diplomatic solutions. Despite an 11th-hour ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, Israel attacked Beirut on Wednesday in a renewed effort to strike at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group...
Prime minister has said deal must include end of hostilities in Lebanon. Ottawa is pushing for Lebanon to be part of the ceasefire deal between the Trump administration and Iran and for its inclusion to be honoured by Israel, a senior Liberal source told CBC News. Canada is one of "many countries trying to push for Lebanon," said the source...
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold. The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and nine European leaders issued a joint statement Wednesday saying they welcome the reported two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The deal was announced Tuesday evening after President Donald Trump threatened that "a whole civilization" would "die" if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- a crucial shipping lane -- was not...
Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th-hour deal that allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to pull back from his threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. Hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday. It was not clear if the sporadic attacks would be enough...
Canada occupies a pivotal position as like-minded nations converge around shared Arctic interests. The Arctic Ocean’s growing accessibility is linking northern waters with the Baltic and the Sea of Japan. A resolute NATO “blue wall” now stretches from Finland to Alaska, with close partner Japan at the far end. Together, these circumpolar democracies form the “Free North,” extending the principles...
This report provides a detailed assessment of Canada's bilateral merchandise trade with China for 2025 — a year defined by structural shifts in export composition from agriculture toward energy and minerals, sharply bifurcated import outcomes as tariff-targeted goods contracted while industrial inputs proved resilient, and persistent geographic concentration and uneven regional distribution. Situating bilateral flows within Canada's broader trade performance...
ICYMI, things aren’t going so good for The Donald. In the “you broke it, you bought it” department, he’s trying to offload a property (the Iran War), bought on spec and not living up to promise, onto a new set of investors (specifically naming China, France, Japan, and South Korea). Turns out they aren’t all that interested in the property...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office wants to bust up a monopoly. I think I’m the target. Let me explain. The Privy Council Office (PCO), home of the prime minister and cabinet, has been flooded with complaints about its failures to comply with the Access to Information Act.
Canadian troops may be only days away from deploying to the Middle East to aid the U.S.’s and Israel’s war on Iran. The latest indication is a joint statement expressing concern about Iran’s restriction of oil tankers through the narrow Strait of Hormuz signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and NATO allies late in the week.
Canadians who have neglected to pay their taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have been coming forward in droves to take advantage of new amnesty rules.
Peter Mazereeuw talks with political science professor Alex Marland about MPs crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party, the fate of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and Liberal Party indifference to Mark Carney's small-c conservative policies. Marland holds the Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership at Acadia University, and has written books about party discipline and loyalty in Canadian...
At Issue this week: As former Conservative MP Marliyn Gladu's move to the Liberals further widens the views within caucus, could it impact upcoming byelections? What does another defection mean for Pierre Poilievre’s leadership? And, will Mark Carney address concerns around the independence of Senators?
POLITICO's Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Calder McHugh break down the latest Ottawa bombshell, as another Conservative MP crosses the floor to join Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead of the party’s convention in Montreal. Plus, a closer look at the Liberal mood on the ground as delegates gather for a high-energy weekend. Finally, what the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could mean next, including the potential...
On Friday, negotiators from the U.S., Israel and Iran are set to talk in Pakistan about the future of the war. The Gulf Arab states, who have been attacked during the conflict, will not be party to the talks. But they have a lot depending on the outcome.
